Quick Tips

Set specific goals for your site, and design it to accomplish those goals.
Put the most important stuff at the top of the home page.
Keep text brief and friendly. Divide it into linked pages.
Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Run a spell check!
Update your site often. Promote the site to help people find it.

Making the Most of Your Website

An effective website provides useful, timely information, and portrays your company as professional, capable and organized. If you’re thinking of creating or overhauling a website, plan it carefully, make it both attractive and informative, then keep it fresh with regular updates.

Planning a new website

Even if you’re hiring someone to create your site, you’ll need to do some simple homework. Jot down the answers to these questions:

What are your goals for the website?
What do you want it to accomplish?
Who is your target audience?
What would they want to know?

Do some research to find out what you like

For some people it’s helpful to find a few existing websites you like, and to note what you like about them. This can help you form an idea about how to organize your site and how you’d like it to look. I take quick screen shots of existing web sites that I like, then paste them into a document with my notes and the url for each site so I can remember where to find it.

Outline your site

Imagine your site as a pyramid; the most important stuff goes at the top of your home page. The next most important stuff goes farther down the home page. Less important info will occupy the lower tiers (pages). Jot down a simple written outline to organize the information you’d like to have in your site. This will help you structure your home page, and give you an idea how many pages you’ll need. A typical basic site has pages like this:

Home
About
Projects/Products/Menu/Services, etc.
FAQs
Blog (articles, videos, etc.)
Testimonials
Contact

Write your text (content)

The next step is to flesh out your outline by developing the content for each page in your site. Keep your goals in mind. When writing for the web, use plain English. Keep it conversational but professional. If you’re hiring a writer, gather some printed info about your business to get him/her started. The writer might want to interview you to get more info.

Keep your content brief

In theory, your web pages could scroll endlessly, but everybody knows that people are impatient. Keep the text as brief as possible, and divide information among several linked sections or pages so the visitor can choose his or her own path. If readers want to know more, they can click to another page.

Make sure the site accomplishes its purpose

Focus on information that’s useful to your web visitors. Tell them how you can help make their jobs easier, improve their lives, give them a great haircut or a quick, delicious meal. Anticipate and answer questions your visitors might have. Lead them to take action: clicking, calling or visiting your business.

Make it useful

Some sites include info on helpful topics, How-To articles, videos, FAQs, etc. This buys you credibility as an expert, and lets people know you’re interested in more than just selling to them. If you include links to other sites, put them on lower-level pages. This way you won’t encourage people to leave your site until they’ve already seen most of it. Set these links to open in a new browser tab so the visitor doesn’t close out of your site.

Keep it fresh

Update your site quarterly at least. Add new articles, info, photos or videos to give people a reason to come back.

Tips for a better website

Think carefully about your text and use HTML headings (H1, H2, etc.) to organize your content. Sites with good organization and information will perform better in online searches.
Make sure the critical information is easy to find on your home page.
Make the site easy to navigate. Give visual clues to show people where they are within the site.
If you provide an email link, be sure to respond promptly to all incoming messages. Expect some spam if you give your email address on the website.
Choose compelling, high-quality images. Avoid gimmicks (animation, sound, etc.) unless they truly enhance your message.
Provide contact information in an easy-to-find place, maybe in a footer on each page.
Use a spell checker. Typos make you look unprofessional.
Promote your site! Include your web address on your business cards, social media, ads, flyers, etc.

Can you do it yourself?

If all you need is a simple site with a few pages, you can probably build it yourself using an online web builder such as Wix or Squarespace. For a bigger challenge you can try WordPress which comes free with most web hosting accounts. It’s very popular and powerful, but the learning curve is fairly steep for some people. However you build it, just make sure your self-built site is both practical and informative, not just pretty.

If you don’t have the time or energy, you can hire a web designer. If you need databases or other special functions, you might need to hire a web design company that can also do programming.

Keep in mind that the online web builders charge you higher hosting rates than other companies. Just make sure the total cost (design + hosting) is still a good deal in the long run.

How much does a website cost?

This is like asking, “How much does a car cost?” Well, are we talking a Smartcar or a BMW roadster? There’s a tremendous variation in the cost, quality and complexity from one website to the next. Most good-quality, simple, small sites cost a thousand to several thousand dollars. Complex sites are time consuming and more expensive. Sites that require custom programming are much more expensive.

Give your designer an outline of what you want on your site so you get an accurate cost estimate. Make sure you understand what you’re getting for your money. And remember, you’ll also have to pay for domain registration and web hosting, probably less than $200/year.

—by Eve Wyatt: web, writing and design for small businesses

Also check out the How-To article 4 Steps to a Website